Kayak jacket of sealskin
(tuilik)

Probably from Napasoq, Greenland, around AD
1990

'I remember my father used to paddle to
the shop in the next village with his kayak, and he would bring
back things in his kayak, and he would also put things in his
sprayshirt, and in his
kapitak .... Also in the
hood of his kapitak,
when the weather was good, and he did not use it to cover his
head.' (Aqqaluk Hansen, Qaqortoq
2001)

In the past, kayak
hunters would wear waterproof sealskin garments over their ordinary
clothing. In cold and stormy weather, they used a
tuilik or
kapitak - a hooded
jacket with drawstrings to fasten it to the cockpit and to secure
it around the hood and at the wrists. A
tuilik is warmer than a
sprayshirt, but more importantly, it ensures that the hunter does
not get wet when
capsizing.

This sealskin
tuilik was made around
1990, probably in Napasoq. It was made for John Petersen, a member
of the Kayak Club in Nuuk and one of the best kayakers in Greenland
at that time. In 1996/7 it was bought by fellow club member Ujarak
J. Heinrich. They both wore the
tuilik in the Eskimo
roll competitions in the Kayak
Championship.

Other
Views: Team competition in Eskimo rolls
at the Kayak Championship (30 kinds of rolls are distinguished).
Nanortalik, July 2001.